Display device



M. RAGAN DISPLAY DEVIC E Filed March 26, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MIKEPAGAN BY My INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY NW. 16, 1943. RAGAN 2,334,440

B1 SPLAY DEVIC E Filed March 26', 1941 2 shets-sneet z wk: RAGANINV'ENTOR" I fzw ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 16, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT"OFFICE DISPLAY DEVICE Mike Ragan, Los Angeles, Calif assignor of onehalfto William P. Murphy, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 26, 1941, Serial No. 385,270

Claims. (01. 27 -442) My invention relates generally to display devices,and more particularly to animated display devices.

While there are many signs now in operation which use animation ormotion to attract the attention of the public, these signs usually hav arelatively short cycle of animation, and hence after a person hasobserved the sign for two or three complete cycles he finds no furtherinterest in it and looks away. If arelatively long cycle is used aperson may not have time to observe a complete cycle, and hence anbeneficial effect of the animation is lost.

It is therefore a major object of my invention to provide a displaydevice which has a relatively short cycle of animation, with each cycledifferent from'the preceding ones so that repetition is reduced to aminimum. I

It is another object of my invention to provide chance meansto determinethe result of each cycle so that a continuing interest is created in thedisplay.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a display-devicewhich is entirely automatic in its operation and which may be madesufliciently compact for use in stores, restaurants, and similarestablishments. I

These and other objects of my, invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of a preferred formthereof, and from thedrawings'illustrating thatform, in which I i Fig. 1 is a frontelevational view of the device with a portion of the display frontbroken away to indicate the position of the rotatable member;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device with the cover removed, and showingthe relative position of the various parts;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view taken at 33 in Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken at 4 4 inFig.3; and s Fig. 5 is aschematic wiring diagram of my preferred form.

In general appearance, my invention somewhat resembles the customarysigns now often used in stores, shops, etc., and'has a display front onwhich any suitable advertising message maybe placed. To attract andretain attention, however, changeable indicia are visible through aportion of this front, and a partial design is applied to the displayfront so that the changeable indicia cooperate therewith to form aunitary design. In the preferred form which will be described, thedisplay front may have a message such as Dont gamble! Drink blank beerl,together with two cubes below the message. One of the faces of each cubeis merely outlined, and through the area within that outline, indiciaare visible which correspond to the markings on the faces of dice, andwhich cooperate with the cubes to simulate dice.

Referring now. to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1-4 thereof,the numeral III indicates a base having an upstanding forward wall IIwhich serves as a display front. The various operating members of thedevice are assembled on the base I0, and the whole may be enclosed in ahousing I2 which protects it from dirt, etc., and which braces and helpssupport the display front II. Immediately behind th display front II Iplace an upright I3 which supports a rotatablemember I I having indiciaI5 thereon; and in my preferred form, this member I4 takes the form of adisc which is parallel to the plane of the display front. I The'majorportion of the display front II is relatively opaque, but to render theindicia I5 visible, I providea transparent or translucent area I6 which'ispreferably surrounded by a partial design I! that cooperates with theindicia to form a completed unitary design. I In the embodiment shown,the partial design I'I represents a die having as one ,of its faces thetranslucent area I6, and within this area the indicia I5 may be seen asthe spots of the various faces of the die. A very, convenient method offorming the indicia I 5 on the disc I4 is to provide groups of perforations in the latter, and I may then pass light through these onto thearea It which acts as a projection screen. In the form of my devicewhich is illustrated, I have shown two dice I1 and I'Ia on the displayfront II, each provided with its own rotatable member I4 and Idarespectively; but it, will be seen that three or more dice may be shownif this is desirable.

Since there are six different indicia on the customary die, each of thediscs I4 and Ma is provided with six groups of perforations, each groupcorresponding to the markings on one of the die faces. By using aseparate disc for each die shown on the display front, I am able to keepthe size of the individual disc within limits where it may be enclosedin a housing inkeeping with the size of the dice. If a single disc wereused for both sets of indicia, thirty-six pairs of indicia would havetobe disposed around the periphery of the disc, thus requiring a muchlarger disc; and if three dice were to be shown instead of two, the sizeof the disc needed would be completely out of proportion to the size ofthe dice. By using one disc for each individual die, however, the devicemay be kept within a moderate space, and in addition, the interest ofthe observer is increased.

Various means may be used to rotate the discs l4 and Ma, but I prefer touse individual motors to drive each disc, and one very simple andsatisfactory method of accomplishing this is to use the discs as therotors of shaded pole motors. The principles of operation and theconstruction of such motors are well known in the art, and they maybriefly be described as having a disc of a material such as aluminumsuspended for rotation between the poles of a specially designedelectro-magnet which has a portion of each pole surrounded by ashort-circuited wind-. ing. When the electro-magnetis energized withalternating current, the disc is caused to rotate,

and a motor is thus provided which does not require a commutator orslip-rings with their "attendant troubles and disadvantages. Such motorsdo not developa largetorque, but this .is not required in the use I makeof them; and their simplicity and trouble-free operation make themideally suited for this application.

In my preferred form, I place a specially designed coil in the'lowerportion of the upright 13 so that the magnetic flux from the coil passesthrough the disc Min a direction perpendicular tothe plane of thelatter.. The coil 20 is placed near the outside of the disc M where itsflux will not pass through the perforations l5, and when the coil isenergized, the disc begins to rotate. When the :coil is deenergized, theforces causing rotation cease, the disc coasts to a stop, and one of theindicia may be observed on the area 16. A similar coil 20a is providedfor the disc Ma, and in this way each disc is individually driven by itsown motor.

The possibility is quite remote that either of the discs M or Ma willcome to a' stop with one of its indicia l5 properly centered withrespect to the area 16 unless some auxiliary means is provided for thispurpose. -In my preferred em bodiment, this auxiliary means comprises anumber of ferro-magnetic 'members 2| attached to the disc 14 near itscenter and in a generally radial position, and co-acting witlithesemembers 2L is a magnet .22 supported by the upright 13. The members 2]and the magnet 22 are positioned so that when anyone of the members isimmediately adjacent the poles of the magnet, one of the indicia I5 isproperly centered with respect to the area I6. It will thus be seen thatby placing the members 2! and the magnet 22 near the center of the discI4, there will always be a ferromagnetic member nearthe magnet for thelatter to attract, and by providing a sumcien-tly strong attractionbetween the two, some one indicia will always come to rest properlycentered. A similar arrangement is provided'to insure the centering ofindicia 511 of the disc Ma. r

In addition to centering the indicia l5, the members 2i and magnets 22and 22a. act somewhat as brakes to slow the rotation of the discs H andMa when the coils 20 and 20a. are no longer energized. By setting onemagnet so that it has a smaller air gap between it and its associatedferromagnetic members than the other magnet has, one disc will come torest before the other and thereby add interest to the device. Theresults will be more satisfactory if the discs l4 and Ma are of asubstantially non-magnetic aterial. but the centering-effectwill stillbe f e a r produced if the discs, but not the members 2|, are far enoughaway from the magnets so that the latter will exert no appreciableeffect on the discs, and in the claims when I speak of a nonmagneticdisc I mean to include one having a non-magnetic effect, whatever it bemade of.

To energize the coils 20 and 20a periodically, I preferably insertelectrical contacts 25 in series with them, and provide a cam 26 to openand close the contacts. The cam 26 is operated by a motor 21 which ispreferably of the shaded pole variety, and which is connected throughsuitable reduction means 28 to the cam. The motor 21 and cam 26 runcontinuously, and by suitable adjustment they may be adapted to controlthe discs I 4 and 14a so that the latter rotate for a few seconds, coastto a stop, and remain stationary a few seconds before starting the cycleagain. The motor 2'! is thus energized continuously while the displaydevice is in operation, and a light 29, adapted to project the indiciaI5 onto the area [6 is likewise con tinuously energized. A switch 30 maybefsupplied to control the operation of the device, and a terminal block3| may be provided for con}- venience in wiring, but neither of theselatter members is necessary for the operationof *my device. v

In use, an observer sees a sign such as D,ont gamble! Drink blank Beer!with two dice on the sign. As he watches, the spots on the dice, whichare formed in light, begin to moveyand after they have been moving a fewseconds, they slow down and finally come to rest. This cycle is repeatedas long as the machine is in operation, but the average observer,instead of quickly tiring of it, continues to watch it to see if theindicia visible at the end of any given cyclear the same as any previouscycle. However, because of the chance means used in the device, thepossibility of this occurring memory of the average person is extremely'ie mote. Most persons are fascinated by such .a device, and will watchit for a much longer period than they would the'usual animated signf'fan'd as a result, when the observer leavesthe si he will carry away amemory-of Blank beer" which will be much more lasting than if a non:animated, or a conventional sign were used.

While the observer has been seeing these're-f suits, the motor 21 hasbeen continuously energized and the contacts 25 have been regularlymaking and breaking the circuit of the coils, 20 and 20a. When the coilswere energized, the discs I4 and Ma started to rotate and continued todo so as long as the coils wereenergizedj'hut when the contacts 25opened the circuit-and de energized the coils 20 and 20a, the discscoasted to a. stop. While the possibility of the "discs stopping at anygiven indicia was purely'a'mate ter of chance, the magnets 22 and 22ccooper-' ated with the members 2| so that the centering of thatparticular indicia with respect to the viewing portion I 6 of thedisplay front- II was assured. Meanwhile, the light 29 has been projecting the image of these indicia on the display front II, and afterthe particular indicia, have remained stationary fora few seconds, thecycle" repeats and the contacts 25 close to energize the coils 2e and20a so that the discs l4 and its will start to rotate. i

-While I have shown and described a preferred;

form of my invention Which is fully fcapablebf achieving the objects andadvantages set forth, it is to be understood that variations may'be'within the which includes: a display front having a'plurality of screenareas; a plurality of non-mags netic metallic discs each having aplurality of groups of apertures constituting indicia thereon rotatablymounted behind said display front and in a plane generally parallelthereto; shaded coils adjacent each of said discs to form therewithshaded pole motors; a plurality of ferromagnetic members attached tosaid discs, each member being associated in predetermined angularrelation with a respective one of said groups; a magnet adjacent each ofsaid discs and adapted to attract any one of said ferromagnetic memberswhereby an undetermined one of said indicia is held in a predeterminedposition when said disc is at rest; a motor; a cam driven by said motor;electrical contacts operated by said cam to energize said coilsperiodically whereby said discs are periodically rotated; and a lightpositioned behind said display front adapted to project said indiciaonto said screen areas.

2. A display device of the character described which includes: a displayfront having a plurality of screen areas; a plurality of non-magneticdiscs each having a plurality of groups of apertures constitutingindicia thereon rotatably mounted behind said display front and in aplane generally parallel thereto; a motor associated with each of saiddiscs and adapted to rotate each disc independently of the remainder; aplurality of ferromagnetic members attached to each of said discs, eachmember being associated in predetermined angular relation with arespeclar relation with a respective one of said groups; a magnetadjacent said disc andadapted to attract any one of said ferromagnetic'members whereby an undetermined one of said indicia is held in apredetermined position when said disc is at rest; a second motor; meansdriven by said second motor to energize said first motor periodically,whereby said disc is periodically rotated; and a light positioned behindsaid display front adapted to project said indicia onto said screenarea.

4. A display device of the character described, which includes: adisplay front having a screen area thereon, a lamp positioned rearwardlyof said front, an electric motor including a rotor disc formed ofnon-magnetic material interposed between said lamp and said screen areato intercept light cast toward said screen area and provided with aplurality of apertures forming groups in accordance with the arrangementof dots upon the various sides of a die to permit the passage of beamsof light therethrough to impinge upon said screen-area simulating themarkings of a die, a continuously operated motor, an electric circuitsupplying both of said motors, means actuated by said second named motorto interrupt at selected intervals the portion of said circuit supplyingcurrent to said first named motor, strips of ferromagnetic materialsecured to said disc at intervals corresponding to the placement of saidgroups of apertures about the disc and in predetermined angular relationwith respect thereto, and a magnet positioned adjacent tive one of saidgroups; a magnet adjacent'each of said discs and adapted to attract anyone of said ferromagnetic members whereby an undetermined one of saidindicia is held in a predetermined position when said disc is at rest; a

. groups of apertures constituting indicia thereon rotatably mountedbehind said display front and in a plane generally parallel thereto; amotor adapted to rotate said disc; a plurality of ferromagnetic membersattached to said disc, each member being associated in predeterminedanguthe rotary path of said strips and arranged to bring the discto'astop upon the breaking of said circuit whereby an undetermined oneof said 7 groups is held in a predetermined position when tion witharespective one of said groups; a magnet adjacent said disc and adaptedto attract any one of said ferromagnetic members whereby an undeterminedone of said groups is held in a a predetermined position when said discis at rest; means adapted to energize said motor periodically, wherebysaid disc is periodically rotated; and a light positioned behind saiddisplay front adapted to project said indicia onto said screen area. 7 7

MIKE RAGAN.

